My employer, Quest Software, Inc. (QSFT26.15, +0.68, +2.65%) today added Apache Cassandra, an open-source NoSQL database, to its list of supported NoSQL platforms with the second beta release of Toad(R) for Cloud Databases. Toad now supports data access and management for Apache Cassandra, Amazon SimpleDB, Microsoft Azure Table Services, Apache HBase, and any Open Database Connectivity-enabled relational database.
Since the release of SQL Server 2005, companies have been investing heavily in SQL Server for their business-critical applications. DBAs are now challenged with supporting ever-growing datasets and making efficient use of allocated disk space in both production and enterprise storage environments. Yet DBAs seldom have a clear picture of their data storage and therefore cannot determine whether they are getting a worthwhile return on their storage investment or if an out-of-disk situation is looming.
In this presentation, Kevin will address these challenges and explore methodologies to help you efficiently use allocated disk space for enterprise storage and production environments.
I enjoy working at Quest Software partly because we do a lot to give back to the community. Here’s one example, a free poster describing all of the SQL Server 2005 and 2008 dynamic management views. Get it here. It’s the perfect compliment to the free system map poster available from Microsoft here.
A neat new administration and configuration management tool for the SQL Server set. I especially like the Run Book features, because Run Books are the way us “oldtimers” like to run our IT infrastructure. My pal, Buck Woody, also likes Run Books (and really big explosions by the guys on MythBusters, but that’s another discussion). Find all the details about the new tool, created by Bill Wunder, here.
"Richard, wasn't that an awesome interview?!?" "Carl, I could've danced, er, talked all night!"
In addition, I’m honored and amazed that the team at RunAsRadio invited me to participate in interview #143. These are the same guys who also put together one of the best and longest running IT podcasting shows – .NETRocks. Unlike a lot of interviews, it seems like we had too little time to cover all the topics. I’d love to hear your feedback!
Quest Software Pain of the Week Webcast: The 5-Minute SQL Server Healthcheck
Join me and Christian Bolton, UK SQL Server MVP and blogger,as we discuss how to quickly evaluate the basic health of your SQL Server environment. You’ll learn about several quick checks you can perform in minutes to determine if critical thresholds are being met—and where you need to resolve issues.
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 8 a.m. Pacific / 11 a.m. Eastern / 4 p.m. United Kingdom / 5 p.m. Central Europe
Duration: 45-60 minutes
Cost: FREE
Presenters: Christian Bolton, SQL Server MVP & Kevin Kline, SQL Server Expert, Quest Software
One lucky attendee will win SQL Server expert Kevin Kline’s new essential reference book, SQL in a Nutshell. The drawing will be held at the end of the webcast, and the winner will be notified by e-mail.